Well, this is not the traditional chicken achari recipe, but my cousin Anirudh’s creation. Few months ago, we were chatting on google chat – he was in Germany and I was here in Kansas. It was one of those catch up sessions where we chat once in a while and catch up on what is going in our lives. That day I asked him what he was eating in his hostel. He mentioned he had prepared a chicken curry that day. He then said he has a recipe for me. He prepares this frequently and it is super hit with his friends. He also said he has become an expert in the kitchen and next time we meet, we will have a cook off! He was so confident that he said he will surely win :).
Anirudh uses actual achaar(pickle) in his recipe. He said he had a lot of pickle in his pantry and didn’t know what to do with it. He started applying it to chicken and grilling it in oven. He usually uses a Tamil pickle (he forgot the name of it). He liked the taste so he kept changing it to get to this recipe. It sounded so interesting to me. Instantly I knew how to finish off some of chili pickle that was sitting in my pantry begging to be finished. Anirudh uses chicken legs ( tangdi ) for this, since I almost always buy boneless chicken, I use that to make this. I tried my own variations to this recipe and it always comes out perfect.
Ingredients: 4 chicken legs (I used boneless chicken breast) 3-4 springs coriander leaves 1 tea spn chopped ginger 1 tea spn chopped garlic 5-6 mint leaves 1-2 tea spns masala from pickle (I used chili pickle) 1/2 tea spn red chilly powder 1 tbl spn yogurt (optional, not in original recipe) Lemon juice Salt
Method: Make a paste of coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, mint leaves, pickle masala, chilli powder, salt. Make some deep slits on the chicken. Apply the paste and yogurt to chicken and leave it aside for about 30mins. Grill in the oven, when it is almost half done, pull out and apply some lemon juice and put it back in oven. Grill till done. (I grill the chicken on my cast iron grill pan). Serve hot.
Variation : Instead of using pickle, I use fresh (Konkani) pickle ingredients directly. I leave out coriander and mint leaves so that chicken gets all the flavors from pickle masala.
Ingredients: 4 chicken legs (I used boneless chicken breast) 1 tea spn mustard seeds 1/4 tea spn fenugreek seeds A pinch asafoetida 1 tea spn chopped ginger 1 tea spn chopped garlic 2 green chillies 1 tbl spn yogurt (optional, not in original recipe) Lemon juice Salt
Method: Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add fenugreek seeds, asafoetida. Make a paste with green chillies, ginger, garlic. Â Here instead of making the masala, you can just add some ready pickle masala and skip the whole grinding process. Apply the masala, yogurt and salt to chicken and leave it aside for about 30mins. Grill in the oven, when it is almost half done, pull out and apply some lemon juice and put it back in oven. Grill till done. (or grill on a grill pan).
Masoor was not very commonly used in Konkani dishes before. But it has become a regular at my home these days. The most popular masoor dish at home is this masoor bhaji which I my family loves. This is another very simple gravy with Konkani flavors. If you are not too fond of coconut, just leave it out and follow the remaining steps – just make a powder of fried coriander seeds and add. The gravy still tastes very good.
Spinach/Palak was also not frequently available at our hometown. These days we have sante (farmer’s markets) once a week and we can find spinach there.
Ingredients: 1 cup whole masoor 2 tbl spn coconut 1 cup spinach leaves 1 tea spn coriander seeds 3-4 red chillies 1/4 tea spn tamarind A pinch turmeric 2 tea spns chopped garlic or 1/2 cup chopped onion Oil Salt
Method: Wash masoor, spinach. Take them in a cooker insert (or directly in cooker) add turmeric and water. Cook in pressure cooker till done – about 3 whistles. Heat oil and add coriander seeds. When they are fried, grind them with coconut, tamarind and red chillies. Add the ground masala to cooked masoor-spinach mixture and bring it to boil. Add salt, cook for couple of minutes. Switch off heat. In another pan, heat a little oil, add garlic or onion – whichever you are using – and fry till they are brownish. Pour this over masoor mixture. Serve hot with rice.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 30 mins
